The present invention generally relates to toner containers, seals, and the like, and more particularly to a toner container which holds toner in a printer toner cartridge or the like.
In the imaging industry, there is a growing market for the remanufacture and refurbishing of various types of replaceable imaging cartridges such as toner cartridges, drum cartridges, inkjet cartridges, and the like. These imaging cartridges are used in imaging devices such as laser printers, xerographic copiers, inkjet printers, and facsimile machines, for example. Imaging cartridges, once spent, are unusable for their originally intended purpose. Without a refurbishing process these cartridges would simply be discarded, even though the cartridge itself may still have potential life. As a result, techniques have been developed specifically to address this issue. These processes may entail, for example, the disassembly of the various structures of the cartridge, replacing toner or ink, cleaning, adjusting or replacing any worn components and reassembling the imaging cartridge.
Imaging cartridges include one or more compartments holding the marking material which is deposited on a surface, such as paper. For a laser toner cartridge, this compartment may be referred to as the toner hopper.
Cartridge seals prevent toner from leaking out of the toner cartridge during shipping and handling. Cartridge seals are removed either by the end user or automatically by the printer prior to printing. During remanufacturing of a cartridge it is necessary to replace the cartridge seal so that the cartridge can once again be shipped without the fear of toner leaking out of the cartridge. The HP M252/277 (201A/201X cartridge) contains a sealed bag filled with toner. The seal is attached to the bag by some method of heat and the tail end of the seal is attached to the tone agitator shaft that runs through the cartridge. Once the cartridge is installed into the printer the printer engages a drive gear that is attached to agitator shaft and removes the seal from the bag. The seal then acts as a toner agitator paddle for the remainder of the toner life.